Join independent journalists and industry decision-makers at GamesBeat NEXT, returning to San Francisco November 2–3. The event brings together 500 executives, founders, investors and tech leaders shaping the $200 billion interactive economy for candid discussions on gaming, entertainment, technology and AI, plus executive networking and opportunities to build partnerships and close major deals.
Welcome to another GamesBeat weekly roundup! This time, we check out Pokémon Sun and Moon, Star Wars gets a new mobile game, and Battlefield 1 sells well.
Enjoy, and have a great weekend!
Pieces of flair and opinion
- The DeanBeat: Montreal talks capture the pulse of game developers
- Watch the making of a Nintendo Switch replica
- 5 tips before you start your Pokémon Sun and Moon adventure
- You’re probably going to have a bad time with Hearthstone’s Heroic Tavern Brawl
- Is NES Classic Edition worth the price? Will we get an SNES Classic? GamesBeat Decides
- Final Fantasy fans freak out over Conan O’Brien’s latest Clueless Gamer bit
- This Watch Dogs 2 mission resembles the Sony Pictures hack
- Watch Dogs 2 lets you drive a talking car similar to Knight Rider’s K.I.T.T.
News
- October 2016 NPD: Battlefield, Mafia, and Gears dominate the sales chart
- Star Wars: Battlefront’s Rogue One expansion debuts next month
- Former id Software exec Steve Nix starts ForwardXP VR studio
- MekaMon will turn your living room into a robot battleground
- Hothead’s Kill Shot series hits 65 million downloads
- Backward compatible Xbox 360 games now come in Xbox One cases
- Nintendo has begun promoting Battlefy’s Splatoon esports tournaments
- EA’s new rule for Twitch and YouTube streamers: You must disclose sponsorships
- Persona 5 delayed to April 4, 2017
- Nvidia: Porting PS4, Xbox One, and PC games to Nintendo Switch is simple
- Nintendo is creating real-life Zelda escape rooms across the U.S.
- Nutaku will invest $10 million in game developers who put sex scenes in NSFW games
- NES Classic Edition’s limited supply is attracting scalpers and their bots
- NES Classic Edition will be available for a few minutes each day through November 18 on Walmart’s website
- Ubisoft will remove a woman character’s exposed genitalia from Watch Dogs 2
- The Elder Scrolls Online gives you a free taste of Tamriel on PS4, PC, and Mac this week
- After 13 years of subscriptions, EVE Online’s latest update embraces free-to-play gamers
- Dishonored 2 has weak U.K. debut
- PlayStation 4 Pro teardown shows off the system’s 4K guts
- Wargaming brings Sega’s Total War: Arena under its new Alliance free-to-play banner
- Minecraft’s Exploration Update is live with spitting llamas and more
- Pokémon Sun and Moon somehow make Dugtrio more ridiculous
- Watch Dogs 2 takes dig at vanity of infamous pharmaceutical CEO
- PlayStation VR’s best-sellers include Batman and Job Simulator
Mobile and social
- Tenjin introduces self-service mobile marketing platform for mobile apps and games
- Meta game ads are the most effective in getting new mobile app installs
- Star Wars: Force Arena for mobile sure looks like a MOBA
- GSN’s Sparcade lets you play Centipede (and Two Dots soon) for real money
- Warner Bros. debuts Fantastic Beasts hidden-object game targeted at females
- Rovio continues reinvention with ‘ToonsTV for Samsung’ app featuring Angry Birds characters
- How Supercell kills its darlings to focus on potential hits
- Super Mario Run sprints to iPhone and iPad on December 15 for $10
- CrowdStar launches Design Home in pursuit of female mobile gamers
- New German mobile game studio Sviper raises seed round
Reviews, previews, and interviews
- Razer Kraken Pro V2 is a lightweight all-day gaming headset
- What it’s like to use a keyboard and mouse on PS4 or Xbox One with the Keymander
- Pokémon Sun and Moon make a good first impression with their formula-shaking tweaks
- How the composers of Mafia III’s music made their memorable tunes
- The Sandbox Evolution delivers pixelated user-generated worlds on Steam
- Ex-Sony exec Adam Boyes tells devs what to learn from the Gold Rush
- HyperX’s Alloy FPS keyboard puts a full-size layout and Cherry switches in a compact chassis